Collapsible ironing board for travelers

ABSTRACT

An ironing board for travelers having foldable and positionable sections swingably mounted to a case for concealment therein during transport. A remaining ironing board section is positionable from its operative position into a case closing position. Latch means on the case retain the ironing board sections both in operative positions and in their collapsed configurations. Detachable leg structures and an iron may be stowed within the case for transport. Alternative means are provided for support of the case at a height convenient for ironing.

Waited States Patent 1 1 Elder 1 1 May 15, 1973 [54] COLLAPSIBLE IRONING BOARD FOR 3,027,664 4/1962 Dailey ..108/34 TRAVELERS 3,516,523 6 1970 Pemberton.... ....190 11 3,512,620 5/1970 Bell et a1. ..190/11 [75] lnvemor- Elder Eugene 3,699,673 10 1972 Foster et a1 .38/104 x [73] Assignee: Harrison B. Webber, Deadwood,

Oreg. a art interest Primary Examiner-G. V. Larkin t Filed: June 1972 At orney James D Glvnan Jr [21] Appl. N0.: 265,320 [57] ABSTRACT An ironing board for travelers having foldable and [52] US. Cl. ..38/139, 108/34, 190/11 positionable sections swingably mounted to a case for [51] 1nt.Cl ..D06f8l/00 concealment therein during transport. A remaining Field 1Jfsealch 1 ironing board section is positionable from its operative 3 /1 8, 3 103/3343, 12 position into a case closing position. Latch means on the case retain the ironing board sections both in References Cited operative positions and in their collapsed configura- UNITED STATES PATENTS tlons. Detachable leg structures and an 1ron maybe stowed w1th1n the case for transport. Alternative 3,049,825 8/1962 Boyd ..38/139 X means are provided for support of the case at a height 3,055,130 9/1962 Maple ..lO8/33 o v ient for ironing, 3,483,954 12/1969 Michalski ..190/42 8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures COLLAPSIBLE IRONING BOARD FOR TRAVELERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The instant invention is directed toward ironing board structures and more particularly toward one adapted to be collapsed in a compact manner for use by travelers.

The traveling public often finds it necessary, for appearance sake, to iron clothes during trips away from home. While the advent of fabrics, termed wash and wear, has somewhat alleviated thewrinkling problem, the appearance of such clothing is greatly enhanced by ironing. Further, clothes packed in suitcases and the like will most often have a wrinkled appearance upon unpacking such, again evidencing a need for portable ironing equipment. The use of laundries is costly and further laundries are not practical for persons traveling continuously day-after-day.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is embodied within a leg supported case on which are adjustably mounted ironing board sections operably disposable to provide an ironing board surface substantially equivalent to a standard size ironing board.

The main body or case of the present structure, in addition to supporting the ironing board sections, provides storage space for said sections when collapsed for travel. One of said ironing board sections serves a second function of providing a closure for the case when the latter is in its collapsed configuration. The ironing surface of the last mentioned section is inverted to protect same during travel. The case is partitioned to define areas for the stowed reception of folded ironing board sections, leg means and an iron, all concealed within the confines of the case to facilitate convenient carrying and packing of the case within an auto. Said leg means are adapted for compact nesting within one another for insertion into the case. A crossmember of each leg structure is insertable intooperative securernent with clevises on the underside of the case. When attached to the case, the leg structures extend downwardly and outwardly to provide a rigid support for the case and the superimposed ironing board. Similarly, a sidewall of the case supports a pairof clevis-like fittings which permit alternative mounting of the case for support on a wall surface of the travelers room. Additionally the case is internally partitioned to define an area to receive an iron and cord thereon.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a highly portable ironing board structure providing substantially the same features as found in a conventional ironing board. The instant structure is particularly directed towards use by. those traveling who normally would have no access to ironing facilities. Conventional ironing boards are too bulky for convenient transport. Conversely, the present structure enables the traveler to periodically iron clothes wrinkled by packing or wearing, and accordingly permits the traveler to look his or her best at all times.

A further important object is to provide a stable ironing board not susceptible to tipping, thus avoiding the dangers attendant a falling iron. The leg means accomplishing such support are adapted at their upper ends to engage the case in a positive manner and include locks holding said leg means in place against accidental displacement.

A further object is to provide additional storage for an iron and for said leg means all without rendering the case bulky. The iron is mounted for travel on a partition while said leg means is confined in a nested, inserted manner within a separate stowage compartment below a false bottom.

A still further object is the provision of a collapsible ironing board which when collapsed has the approximate configuration of a medium sized piece of luggage, provided with a handle for ease of one-handed carrymg.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. 1 is side elevational view board operatively disposed,

'FIG. 1A is an enlarged, fragmentary view of a latch mechanism shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the ironing board collapsed within the case for support,

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the right hand end of FIG. 3 with an access door moved to an open position, and

FIG. 5 is a bottom 5-5 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With continuing reference to the accompanying drawings wherein applied reference numerals indicate parts similarly identified in the following specification, the reference numeral 1 indicates a case for the present ironing board structure, the case being of box-like configuration open at its top to receive, or alternatively support, ironing board sections as later described.

The ironing board case 1 is supported adjacent the ends of its bottom wall by inverted, U-shaped leg structures at 3 and 4. Secured to bottom wall 2 are a pair of oppositely directed clevises 5 and 6 which extend transversely of bottom wall 2 as best shown in FIG. 5. Said clevises constitute attachment means for each of the leg structures and permit removable attachment of the latter to the case in a secure manner. For attachment purposes, each leg structure includes a plate at 7 and 8 interconnecting the legs of each pair and which are adapted for inserted replacement into their respective clevises 5 and 6. Thumb screws at 19 and 11 (FIG. 5) threadedly engage their respective clevises extending upwardly through same for locking engagement within openings typically shown in FIG. 4 at 8a in the leg plates 7 and 8. I

To enable nesting of leg means 3 and 4 for compact stowage within the case, the pair of legs at 3 are spaced a greater distance than the remaining legs 4. Accordingly, said leg means may be stowed as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 within a storage area 12 of the case with their end plates 7 and 8 overlying the feet portions of the opposite legs.

With continuing regard to case 1 the same additionally mounts on a sidewall a pair of clevises at 13 and 14 such having a downwardly oriented bite as viewed in FIG. 4-. The clevis shown in FIG. 4 is upwardly spaced from a cooperatingly wall mounted clevis typically shown at 15 and having an upwardly oriented bite porof the present ironing plan view of the case taken along tion. It follows that case 1 may be wall mounted dispensing with the necessity for previously described leg means.

Pivotally supported on opposing sidewalls of the case at 18 and 19 are links 16 and 17 constituting a parallelogram linkage for support of a first ironing board section 20. Pivots 21 and 22 connect the upper ends of links 16 and 17 with downwardly directed flanges a extending along each side of ironing board section 20. I-Iingedly supported at 23 to the forward edge of ironing board section 20 is a forward ironing board section 24 of conventionally tapered configuration.

A rearmost ironing board section at 25 is operatively supported adjacent its forward end by a pair oflinks 26. Pivotal connections at 27 attach the upper end of 26 to section 25 while the lower end of each link 26 is pivotally attached to opposite sidewall of case 1 by pivot mountings 28. During collapsing, the links 26 upon rearward movement of the ironing board section 25 from the position shown in FIG. 1, provide clearance permitting the inverting of said section to the case closing position shown in FIG. 3.

When operatively disposed, the ironing board sections are held horizontal and secured against longitudinal displacement by means of the linkages above described and latches at 30, 31, one of which is typically shown in FIG. 1A. Each latch includes an over centertype lock having a bale component 30a. The ironing board sections 20 and 25 include crossmembers 32, 33 which in addition to reinforcing said sections serve to mount hook elements 34, 35 for latched engagement with the bales. The latches 30-31 additionally serve to engage additional hook elements at 36, 37 carried by ironing board section 25 for the purpose of securing same in an inverted position thus permitting section 25 to function as a closure for case 1 as shown in FIG. 3.

Case 1 is internally partitioned by means of a false bottom 40 and an upright internal wall 41 as best viewed in FIGS. 3 and 4. False bottom 40 serves to define the leg receiving area 12 in the case while partition 41 delineates an iron storage area 42 with an ironing board stowage area being indicated at 43 (FIG. 3). Partition 41 terminates in lateral spaced relationship to the sidewalls of the case to provide clearance for arcuate passage of links 17 to the raised position. With reference of FIG. 4, the beveled corners 41A of the partition provide clearance for the downwardly extending flanges 20A of board section 20 during raising and lowering of same. Partition 41 serves to support a conventional iron 44 by means of a strap 45 having a snap attachment at 46 for securement to the partition. An electrical cord is indicated at 47 within the iron storage area 42.

Hingedly mounted at 50 to one vertical edge of a case sidewall is an access panel 51 closing internal areas 12 and 42 of the case. Panel 51 is provided with a suitable catch to hold same closed in flush relationship with one end of the case 1 to provide a stationary support for the locking means 31 located on said panel.

In order to collapse the ironing board from its configuration of FIG. 1, the ironing board sections 20, 25 are unlatched by release of latch 31. Rearmost ironing board section 25 is similarly released by actuation of latch 30, and thence moved rearwardly until links 26 contact the case end wall. Space is accordingly provided for the ironing board sections 20 and 24, the latter previously swung upwardly about hinge 23 into overlying relationship with center section 20, to be lowered via the parallelogram linkage l6 and 17 into the case. Subsequently, rearmost section 25 is pivoted upwardly about the pivotal connections 27 resulting in the uppermost surface of section 25 being inverted for placement downwardly as a closure for case 1 in the nature of a lid. The latches 30 and 31 are again utilized with the bales thereof acting to downwardly tension the hook elements 36, 37 as best seen in FIG. 3. Desirably, ironing board section 25 is of closed wall construction to provide a smooth upper surface top when inverted while the ironing board sections 20 and 24 are desirably of inverted of channel-like shape for purposes of weight reduction, as well as, to provide for clearance for passage of section 20 past partition 41 during collapsing.

A handle H permits convenient one-handed carrying of the case 1 which is approximately equal in size to a medium sized piece of luggage.

While I have shown but a few embodiments of the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied still otherwise without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention what is desired to be secured under a Letters Patent is:

l. A collapsible ironing board structure for use by travelers, said structure comprising,

a case defining an upwardly opening area,

means for supporting said case in an operative elevated position,

an ironing board comprised of plural sections operatively supported upon said case in end-to-end relationship,

first linkage pivotally coupling one of said ironing board sections to said case and supporting said one section in a horizontal operative position, said linkage additionally permitting movement of said one section to a concealed position internally of said case,

second linkage pivotally coupling another of said ironing board sections to said case and supporting same in a horizontal operative position, said second linkage additionally permitting movement of said another section to placement over the case to function as a lid thereon, and

latch means securing said ironing board sections in place on the case.

2. The ironing board structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second linkage is in pivoted attachment adjacent one end of the ironing board section permitting said section to be inverted prior to placement on the case.

3. The collapsible ironing board structure as claimed in claim 2 wherein said supporting means comprises a pair of U-shaped leg structures, clevises on said case removably mounting the upper ends of said leg structures, said leg structures adapted to nest one within the other, said case additionally defining a leg structure storage area for stowage of the nested leg structures during transport of the case.

4. The collapsible ironing board structure as claimed in claim 2 wherein said supporting means comprises clevises affixed to a vertical sidewall of the case for cooperative engagement with wall mounted supporting brackets.

5. The collapsible ironing board structure as claimed in claim 2 additionally including hook elements carried by said ironing board sections, said latch means mounted on the case and engageable with said hook elements, said latch means being engageable with hook elements to retain the ironing board sections both in operative disposition and additionally to secure one of said sections in a case closing position.

6. The collapsible ironing board structure as claimed in claim 5, wherein said case is of open box-like con struction internally partitioned to define multiple storage areas, said case including an access panel permitting access to at least two storage areas,

said plural sections of said ironing board comprising a forward, intermediate and rearmost section, said forward and intermediate sections being hingedly interconnected, said rearmost section including hook elements thereon,

said first linkage coupling said intermediate section to the case,

said second linkage coupling said rearmost section to the case,

said latch means carried by the case and engageable with the intermediate and rearmost sections to retain same in operative disposition, said latch means additionally engageable with said rearmost section when the last mentioned section is in an inverted case closing position to retain same on the case in the nature of a lid.

7. The collapsible ironing board structure as claimed in claim 6 wherein said supporting means comprises a pair of U-shaped leg structures, clevises on said case removably mounting the upper ends of said leg structures, said leg structures adapted to nest one within the other, said case additionally defining a leg structure storage area for stowage of the nested leg structures during transport of the case.

8. The collapsible ironing board structure as claimed in claim 6 wherein said supporting means additionally includes clevises affixed to a vertical sidewall of the case for cooperative engagement with wall mounted clevises. 

1. A collapsible ironing board structure for use by travelers, said structure comprising, a case defining an upwardly opening area, means for supporting said case in an operative elevated position, an ironing board comprised of plural sections operatively supported upon said case in end-to-end relationship, first linkage pivotally coupling one of said ironing board sections to said case and supporting said one section in a horizontal operative position, said linkage additionally permitting movement of said one section to a concealed position internally of said case, second linkage pivotally coupling another of said ironing board sections to said case and supporting same in a horizontal operative position, said second linkage additionally permitting movement of said another section to placement over the case to function as a lid thereon, and latch means securing said ironing board sections in place on the case.
 2. The ironing board structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second linkage is in pivoted attachment adjacent one end of the ironing board section permitting said section to be inverted prior to placement on the case.
 3. The collapsible ironing board structure as claimed in claim 2 wherein said supporting means comprises a pair of U-shaped leg structures, clevises on said case removably mounting the upper ends of said leg structures, said leg structures adapted to nest one within the other, said case additionally defining a leg structure storage area for stowage of the nested leg structures during transport of the case.
 4. The collapsible ironing board structure as claimed in claim 2 wherein said supporting means comprises clevises affixed to a vertical sidewall of the case for cooperative engagement with wall mounted supporting brackets.
 5. The collapsible ironing board structure as claimed in claim 2 additionally including hook elements carried by said ironing board sections, said latch means mounted on the case and engageable with said hook elements, said latch means being engageable with hook elements to retain the ironing board sections both in operative disposition and additionally to secure one of said sections in a case closing position.
 6. The collapsible ironing board structure as claimed in claim 5, wherein said case is of open box-like construction internally partitioned to define multiple storage areas, said case including an access panel permitting access to at least two storage areas, said plural sections of said ironing board comprising a forward, intermediate and rearmost section, said forward and intermediate sections being hingedly interconnected, said rearmost section including hook elements thereon, said first linkage coupling said intermediate section to the case, said second linkage coupling said rearmost section to the case, said latch means carried by the case and engageable with the intermediate and rearmost sections to retain same in operative disposition, said latch means additionally engageable with said rearmost section when the last mentioned section is in an inverted case closing position to retain same on the case in the nature of a lid.
 7. The collapsible ironing board structure as claimed in claim 6 wherein said supporting means comprises a pair of U-shaped leg structures, clevises on said case removably mounting the upper ends of said leg structures, said leg structures adapted to nest one within the other, said case additionally defining a leg structure storage area for stowage of the nested leg structures during transport of the case.
 8. The collapsible ironing board structure as claimed in claim 6 wherein said supporting means additionally includes clevises affixed to a vertical sidewall of the case for cooperative engagement with wall mounted clevises. 